DA: Marsh settlements won't affect charges

Amarillo millionaire Stanley Marsh 3, center, leaves Potter County Detention Center after being booked Nov. 28 on 11 criminal charges, including child sexual abuse and sexual performance by a child. Marsh was helped into his vehicle by attorneys Paul Nugent, left and Heather Peterson, right.

The Associated Press

LUBBOCK — The settlement of several civil lawsuits alleging Stanley Marsh 3 paid teenagers for sex won’t affect the criminal sex assault case against the eccentric Amarillo millionaire artist best known for his Cadillac Ranch art display, a prosecutor said.

Special prosecutor Matt Powell said he plans to present the criminal case to grand jurors sometime next month. Marsh faces six counts of child sexual abuse and five counts of sexual performance by a child. The charges involve two boys, ages 15 and 16.

Last weekend, attorneys announced they had settled civil lawsuits accusing Marsh of molesting 10 teens. Terms of the settlement were not released.

“It’s not going to affect us at all,” Powell said. “They don’t have any bearing on what I’m going to do.”

Marsh’s criminal attorneys, who have denied the allegations, declined to comment.

Marsh, 74, is free on $300,000 bond. If convicted, he faces up to 20 years in prison per count and fines of up to $10,000. The charges involve alleged acts from 2010.

Marsh suffered a massive stroke in 2011, and his wife is now his legal guardian.

Powell, who said additional charges against Marsh could be added, said he isn’t concerned the settlement could keep the accusers from testifying truthfully.

“That’s the reason we have statements from them,” he said, adding that statements have been taken from “almost” every alleged victim, not just the two whose accusations are the basis for the charges.

The civil suits alleged Marsh gave the teenage boys cash, alcohol, drugs and cars to perform sex acts with him during secret encounters.

Hours after an arrest warrant was issued in November, Marsh turned himself in to authorities. A statement from his lawyers then noted the accusers had filed civil suits “seeking millions of dollars” and that they had waited to come forward until after Marsh had suffered a stroke.

Amarillo police said they found evidence in Marsh’s downtown offices that corroborated “the accounts of sexual exploitation of minors.” Police seized computers, couch cushion covers, a photo of a nude male, and signed confidentiality agreements, among other things, according to a search warrant inventory report.

It’s not the first time Marsh has been accused of sexual misconduct. In 2001, four lawsuits against Marsh that alleged imprisonment, sexual misconduct and harassment of teens were settled. No other details were made public.

In 1998, Marsh pleaded no contest to misdemeanor charges of unlawful restraint and criminal trespassing as part of an agreement that dismissed five felony charges that included kidnapping, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and indecency with a child. He served 10 days in jail and paid $4,000 in fines.

In 1996, Marsh settled a lawsuit with a youth who claimed Marsh sexually abused him.

ADVISORY: Users are solely responsible for opinions they post here and for
following agreed-upon rules of civility. Posts and
comments do not reflect the views of this site. Posts and comments are
automatically checked for inappropriate language, but readers might find some
comments offensive or inaccurate. If you believe a comment violates our rules,
click the "Flag as offensive" link below the comment.

Comment viewing options

Sort Comments

Select your preferred way to display the comments and click "Save settings" to activate your changes.

Only time will tell how well the Special Prosecutor Matt Powell presents the case to the Grand Jury and if they decide to indict or not and let it move forward to criminal proceedings and trail or not.

I wonder most about the parents motives in the civil suits. Marsh has has had a well known reputation for many many years. Why would any DECENT parent allow their young boys to hang around this man!?
They can't claim ignorance. Unless you've been under a rock for decades you know his reputation. I think they were just looking for a final payday now that he has had a major stroke and won't be passing out money and cars anymore.

To be clear he should not be excused for his actions but where have these boys parents been all this time?

Every kid would have two parents who knew where their kid was, what they were doing and who with at every minute of the day. Unfortunately it is far from a perfect world and predators are skillful at picking victims who may not have a support system.

The possibility also exists that the fear of challenging this type of money and power prevented anything from being said by parents who found out after the fact until the power was somewhat neutralized by declining health. I think it took some pretty gutsy parents to put themselves and their kids in the position of being accused and denigrated by posts like we have seen over and over. That , in my opinion, is why this went on for all the years it has. These kids were not well adjusted high achievers to begin with for many reasons which is what made them vulnerable to exploitation by a rich , twisted high profile member of a community. I am more than bored with "eccentric" being the word used to describe marsh.

Decent parents tried in the past Dante and their kids moved to other cities because of the after effects.

The only reason there was an arrest was that these boys had the guts to step forward. The DA and the other authorities are gutless. Without the lawsuits and this newspaper's coverage, nothing would have ever happened to Marsh. Now he will always be remembered for these allegations. That is probably as much justice as there will be. The boys and their lawyer should be applauded. I wonder what will happen to Cadillac Ranch?

This man allegedly sexually abused these teenagers. The reason many people don't report sexual abuse relates to some of the comments in this article. In cases of rape, you might hear, "she asked for it". Abuse is abuse. Blame the perp, not the victims.